Record night helps Huskers escape UTSA 104-94
It took the most prolific scoring effort by a Nebraska team in 12 years to do it, but the Huskers were able to escape another dreaded buy-game loss for the fourth year in a row with a 104-94 victory over Texas-San Antonio on Wednesday night.
After leading by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Huskers found themselves knotted at 86-86 with only 4:23 left the game. But some clutch shots by veteran guards Anton Gill and James Palmer helped the Huskers pull away with a late run and seal the win.
The 104 points not only marked the most of the Tim Miles era, they were also NU’s highest total in a game scoring 107 against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 19, 2005, and the most ever scored in Pinnacle Bank Arena.
"I think it could have been very easily a game we'd maybe not hung around with," Miles said. "But just like Eastern Illinois, I think we showed some toughness mentally and just did enough, and had enough talent, too."
It was a sleepy start on the court and in the stands, as both teams were ice cold offensively and opened a combined 2-of-14 from the floor.
Nebraska was able to get by with the help of 14 UTSA fouls that led to 22 free throw attempts in the first half alone. In NU’s previous two games vs. Creighton and Kansas, it shot a total of 11 free throws.
Behind three 3-pointers from Gill, the Huskers slowly got going and took a 42-28 lead with 4:25 left after a 10-0 run.
But the Roadrunners would counter with a 14-5 run of their own over the next three minutes and pull to within five before a jumper by senior guard Evan Taylor with 32 seconds left sent NU into halftime with a 49-42 lead.
Texas-San Antonio only shot 41 percent from the field but made up for it by hitting 6-of-13 3-pointers in the half.
"Tonight was one of those nights where it felt like we were running in mud early," Miles said. "Not a lot of spark. It looked like we were in a fog, so to speak."
The Roadrunners would quickly chip Nebraska’s lead down to 53-51 less than three minutes into the second half, but two 3-pointers by junior guard Glynn Watson and another three by freshman Thomas Allen pushed the lead back up to 11 with 15 minutes to go.
UTSA wasn’t done yet, though, as it came right back with a 10-0 run and eventually tied the game up at 70-70 with 11:27 remaining.
The score wouldn’t sway any further than five points either way until the four-minute mark, when Gill knocked down a 3-pointer and then got fouled on a three to make all three free throws.
Palmer followed that up with a layup to make it 94-86 with 2:48 to go to cap off an 8-0 run, and that would be just what the Huskers needed to put the game away down the stretch.
Nebraska ended up shooting a staggering 50 free throws in the game, including going 22-of-28 in the second half, as UTSA committed 31 fouls and had three players foul out.
Palmer was the cause of much of that, as he finished 13-of-17 from the line to post a career-high 25 points along with seven rebounds.
"We're happy after any win," Taylor said. "We've lost this game for like three years in a row, and today we won. It was tough. We knew the game was going to be hard, you can't underestimate any opponent. But shoutout to our guys and our coaches, we were able to weather the storm and win a tough one."
Gill scored a career-high 21 points off the bench while Taylor ended up with a season-high 16 points and four assists. Watson added 13 points while sophomore forward Isaiah Roby chipped in 10 with six boards.
UTSA’s Jhivvan Jackson had a game-high 26 points and hit five 3-pointers, as the Roadrunners shot 15-of-31 from behind the arc as a team.
The Huskers will return to action on Friday when they host Delaware State for a 7 p.m. tip.
"It was a good win," Miles said. "Not pretty, but it's still the NASCAR principle - every car is supposed to be the same, but we know some cars just don't have it. So tonight, instead of getting eighth, we got third, and we got more out of it."
